A Baptism for a Church?

The former Catholic in me is coming out, because reformed charismatic Christians don’t do baptisms for babies, we do baby dedications. But since Hurricane Katrina destroyed our old church building, I’ve had something of a theme, with the death and funeral of the old church building (see post and photos below the fold), and the “pregnancy” of the building program. Well, the birth or baptism is imminent, and the new church building will become an intrinsic part of our church family, just as the old one was. We’ve overcome one of the last hurdles (zoning/parking) and we should be able to move in before too much longer. Which will be a relief, as half of us have been attending in a rented church on Saturdays, and the other half in a movie theater on Sundays. People are fond of saying, “it’s just a building; the people are the real church,” and that’s true – but it’s not the whole story. We are a church who used our facilities seven days a week, not just on Sundays. The new building isn’t some monument to New Orleans’ ongoing financial recovery – it’s large, and it’s pretty, but it’s above all functional and will soon be serving people in our congregation and as much of the general public as we possibly can.

It’s taken about three years, and the journey has been amazing. The testimonies of people giving sacrificially – so much so that several of the bankers said they had never seen anything like it, especially given how many people had to rebuild their homes and businesses at the same time they were giving to buy additional land and construct the building. We’ve been privileged to be able to serve people by gutting homes, mowing lawns, and helping them rebuild their houses in the neighborhood. We’ve reached out to the hurting and distraught – people who thought they lost everything, only to find the one thing they never knew they needed – a Savior.

Above all, Hurricane Katrina – in the midst of everything we lost – gave us the chance to do what Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God course advises – to see what God is doing and join Him in his work. It’s been both awful and awe-ful. If anyone had asked us, we’d have said no, but I suspect now that we’re coming out on the other side, if you asked us, we’d all say that we’d go through it again because of the gains we have made in our relationships with God, with each other, and with the community we serve. And the best part is, moving in to the new building is just the beginning.

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A Funeral for a Church – 11/2006

What are the typical components of a Christian funeral? There are normally stories about the loved one we’ve lost, prayer, a time of worship, tears, and laughter. It’s quite common for Christians to say, “It’s just a building – the church is really the people,” and while that is true, it fails to acknowledge that those buildings house memories of important times of our lives.

So Jacob set up a memorial, a stone marker, to mark the place where God had spoken with him. He poured a wine offering and olive oil on it.
(Genesis 35:14 GW)

Our church was a couple of blocks from the infamous 17th Street Canal levee break, and sat in about twelve feet of water for a week and a half. So we ultimately made the decision to knock it down. For this year’s Thanksgiving service, held in a borrowed church on a Saturday, we gave thanks for all the years that building served us, all the wonderful blessings we enjoyed in it, and for the fact that we will have a new building on that location in a few years. In many ways, it was the funeral for our church building. We looked at pictures, told stories, laughed, cried, prayed and worshiped.

It was in this building that I heard from God – really heard from God – about a sin that I had struggled with for a long time. I experienced real repentance. I understood how my sin looked to God. That was a life-changing moment that I’ll never forget. The first, but not the last.

In that building, hundreds of people came and went through the decades and they all have their own stories. Weddings, funerals, baptisms, salvations, church events of every type and most of all, God ministering to his people, through other people or through the Holy Spirit. Yes, it was just a building. But it held so much more than chairs, equipment, and resources. It was our church home.

A few guys from church managed to get some pictures while the area was still flooded – they got in through a hole in the roof.

After the flood waters went down, we were able to assess the damage – you can see the water line, and the mold that grew above it.

We actually gutted the old building while we decided whether to restore or rebuild, and we finally decided it all needed to go.

The new building will be bigger and better – and soon filled with memories of God’s grace.